The Watcher
by JesStarr
Summary: Jake's had trouble sleeping since getting back from China, but he's found something else more productive to do; watch over Sherry. Only this night is different, Sherry isn't alone. *Jake x Sherry* *Oneshot* Written in the first person from Jake's POV. *Rated M for language.*


**A/N: Hey guys, here's another oneshot, this time; Jake x Sherry. It's written in the first person from Jake's perspective, and as usual, stuff written in italic are thoughts (the odd one might be emphasis on a word). **

**R&R please, let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy this, and thanks for reading! :D**

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Once again, I couldn't sleep.

I hadn't been able to sleep properly since getting back from China, and that was two months ago. As you can imagine, I was beginning to get irritated with it, I needed my sleep and for whatever reason, I just couldn't do it for more than an hour or so.  
After that, I'd be wide-awake again, and bored as hell.  
But during that time, I'd found something to do that kept me occupied, and I was on my way there now.

The streets were quiet and empty at this time of the morning, and rightfully so, it was 1:45am after all. It was a great time to go for a walk, the darkness overshadowing you, your thoughts to yourself, the crisp air filling your lungs with each breath you take.  
I turned the corner into an alleyway, my hands gripping the fire-escape ladder, and I began climbing to the rooftop.  
I was up there in no time, thanks to my accelerated speed, and the view from here was amazing, of course it was nothing fancy, but having spent most of my life in Edonia, this was certainly something else.  
I reached into my coat pocket, retrieving a cigarette and mouthed the tip, using my free hand to shield it as I lit it with my lighter; thankful when the damn thing worked the first time.  
I took a long drag and blew out the cloud of smoke, visible against the dark sky and walked towards the edge of the building, leaning my forearms on the wall and gazing across at the other buildings.  
I knew which one she was in, knew exactly what window was hers, and more importantly, I had a clear view of it from here.

This was the place I came to when I couldn't sleep. I stand up here, thinking about nothing and everything, and I watch over her. It may sound creepy, watching someone while they sleep, but I only do it because I want to make sure she's safe. I don't get off on it or nothing, I just feel an obligation to her. I guess, maybe because she saved my sorry ass so many times, I want to return the favour somehow. That, and I think I feel something for her.

I scoffed, _'listen to me, thinking about feeling something for Sherry. She saved my life and that's all, there are no feelings between us. It was all just business.'_  
I tried to convince myself, idly discarding the excess ash onto the ground below, and taking another long drag, before something else caught my eye.

A light was on, in Sherry's apartment, and I could just about make out that she was standing in what looked like her lounge. She was gesturing with her hands, as if she was arguing with someone.  
I lifted my head slightly, straining my ears, hoping that another one of my 'abilities' was increased hearing. Unfortunately it wasn't and I cursed under my breath "Damn it." I leaned over the wall a little further, trying to get a better idea of what was going on over there, but it was impossible; I didn't have any binoculars - which, coupled with my current actions, _would_ make me seem creepy, - and I was too far away to lip-read.

I settled back on my feet, observing the situation from afar, curiosity tugging at me to go over there. But I didn't want to get involved in anything that wasn't my business, she might take offence if I just went over there, and my arrival would certainly cause questions to arise as to how I knew something was going on.  
I really didn't feel like having that conversation with her, I could just picture it in my head now; _'Well Sherry, I haven't been sleeping so good lately, so when I can't sleep, I stand over on that building, and watch you sleep.'_ That screams stalker, doesn't it?  
I shook my head slightly, _'No, I couldn't tell her that. Ever.'_  
I focused my gaze on her window again, now seeing a guy standing there with her; the pair of them gesturing to each other like they were in a heated argument or something.  
I could feel my blood beginning to boil,… Was I jealous?  
_'No,'_ I quickly wiped that thought from my mind, _'I don't do jealousy.'_

Then suddenly, it all happened so fast, the guy - whoever he was, I didn't care at this point, - grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, and shook her violently.  
Anger riddled me,_ 'How dare he do that to her!'_ I flicked my cigarette and ran to the fire-escape. I'd seen enough.  
I slid down the ladder, climbing would have taken me too long, and I wanted to meet this guy in person.  
I reached the bottom and ran at a fast pace towards Sherry's apartment block, having accelerated speed did have it's perks. And as for the time, I wasn't concerned about anyone seeing me, there was no one around anyway.  
I reached her building in minutes, and found that it was a button-entry block.  
"To hell with that," I muttered, driving my shoulder with considerable force, into the panel door, smirking as it caved in and allowed me to run up the stairs.  
I reached her door, hearing shouting on the other side of it. Her voice sounded hurt, maybe even scared, and I wasn't surprised after seeing the way he handled her.  
But why was I still stood here? Why hadn't I gone in and given that guy a piece of my mind? I'd already come this far, broken down the block's main entry door, but something had stopped me from doing the same to her door.  
_'How would she react if I just came barging in? Should I barge in like downstairs? Should I knock?'_ I grunted, _'Why are all these damn thoughts attacking me now?'_  
Her scream brought me out of my thoughts, and I wasted no time in kicking that door in.

I was met with Sherry's shocked expression, which I'd expected, but the guy just looked at me, then back at Sherry, squeezing his grip on her forearms, her expression changing to one of discomfort.  
"Who the hell is this?" The guy barked in her face.  
"I'm the guy who's about to kick your ass," I cut in, taking a step towards her, hoping this asshole would take the hint and piss off.  
He clocked me coming towards him, but stood his ground, his grip still firmly on her.

"Is that right?"  
I smirked, this guy had some balls standing up to me. "Yeah, you gonna let her go willingly, or am I gonna have to break your arm?"  
"Jake," Sherry's voice sounded weak, drawing my gaze to her instantly.  
_'Don't ask me to leave,'_ I willed her silently.  
"Jake aye? So you're the guy she goes on about so much." The guy snorted, getting all up in her face, and hatred burned inside me. I wanted to give this guy the ass-kicking of his life, so badly; he deserved it in my eyes, and no doubt in hers too. But was she going to let me give it to him? _'Well actually, I'm gonna give it to him anyway, but it's her choice if it's here or down on the street corner.'_ I thought to myself.  
Sherry's cheeks reddened with embarrassment, which I didn't comment on, this was hard enough for her as it is.  
My jaw tightened, and I clamped my left hand down on his wrist closest to me, leaned into his ear, and spoke through gritted teeth; this was his last warning. "Let go of her now."  
My eyes narrowed on him, and he reluctantly released her, shoving her back slightly with the force of his action, but not knocking her over.

Sherry winced, her face contorting in pain and I noticed she brought her right arm up to cradle it against her chest.  
There didn't appear to be any obvious damage, but she wouldn't do that unless she was hurt in some way.  
"What happened to your arm?" I questioned, my steel-gaze flittering between her injured arm and her blue eyes, unable to control the anger in my voice and face. I wasn't angry at her, I was fuming with him.  
"It's n-nothing, really, I'm f-fine," she stammered, avoiding my gaze, but I could tell she was teary eyed. I didn't believe her for one minute, but guessed that she wouldn't say anything truthful about it until this guy was gone.

I didn't understand why he intimidated her so much, we'd fought bigger and badder things than this in Edonia and China, but she must have her reasons.

I took her answer anyway, and was about to turn back to the guy, when pain shot through the right-side of my face, and I recoiled, the sudden action making me do so.  
I vaguely heard Sherry shout his name, presumably scolding him, but I didn't catch it, my brain was going a mile a minute.  
_'Did he just fucking hit me?!'_  
My thoughts were confirmed when I licked my lips, the familiar metallic taste of blood on my tongue, and I wiped the back of my hand against my mouth.

"Motherfucker!" I spat, craning my head to face the culprit, seeing a pleased look on his face. I chuckled, despite my blood boiling; it would take a whole lot more than a punch to take me down. "That all you got?"  
His answer was to throw another punch at me, one that I caught with ease now that my attention was focused on him, and I smirked at his surprised expression.  
He'd obviously thought that he was going to hit his target a second time.  
"When I'm hit, it only happens once." I told him, twisting his arm round and elbowing him in the face, keeping a firm grip on his arm as he stumbled and tried to back away from me. I pulled him back to me and jumped up, kneeing him in the face, hearing a sickening crack from the blow, before releasing his arm.

It fell to the floor, along with him, and his hands cupped his nose, where my knee had connected.  
I looked down at him, unable to stop a smile forming on my face from the exhilaration I was feeling.  
He scrambled to his feet, and darted out the front door, stumbling slightly as he tried to run down the stairs as fast as possible.  
I followed him, stopping at Sherry's front door, and called out, "Don't like how it feels, do you? Well remember my face, cause I'm always gonna be here, so you better think twice about coming back."

My voice echoed in the apartment block, but I didn't care; my message had reached him loud and clear.

I pushed Sherry's door closed, well as closed as it would go, considering I'd kicked it in, and made my way back to her, a solemn expression forming on my face as my eyes settled on her once again.

She seemed rooted to the spot, still stood where she'd been when I came in, and was still clutching her arm to her chest. She looked up at me then, an unreadable expression in her eyes, before dropping her gaze to the floor once again.  
"Don't worry about that prick," I muttered, my voice low, motioning towards the door. "He wont come back anymore, I made damn sure of that."  
She gave a small nod, still staring at the floor as if any minute, it would swallow her up.  
Her lack of communication gave me the distinct impression she didn't want to talk about what had happened here and I sighed; that made two of us who didn't want to be asked questions.

"I won't ask about him, if you don't ask me why I'm here?" I lowered my head a little, trying to get her to look at me.  
My proposal must have struck her curious side because she lifted her head, confusion etched across her features. She wanted to ask me, I could tell, but we both remained silent for a moment.  
She let out a long shaky breath, her shoulders sagging as she did so, "Okay."  
I gave a nod, "Okay…. And sorry about your door, I'll pay for the damage." I gave her an apologetic smile, seeing her manage a small one herself.  
My gaze dropped to her arm again, and the smile was wiped from my face, "What happened to your arm?"  
She shrugged, "I thought you weren't going to ask me about it?"  
"I said I wouldn't ask about _him_, so you still have to tell me what he did to your arm," my tone was soft and I raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her to explain.  
She shifted on the spot before answering me, "Okay, I'll explain what he did to my arm, but first, why did it take you so long to kick the door in?"

Now it was her turn to raise an eyebrow at me, and my mouth fell open, _'What?'_  
As if she heard my thoughts, she carried on, "I know you were on the rooftop over there, I've seen you up there a few times actually. Then I heard the door downstairs crash open, so I figured you must have seen something go on. But then you took your time opening my door, why?"

_'Shit…. She was spying on me, spying on her?'_ From her expression, I could tell she was enjoying seeing me squirm. _'Do I tell her? How can I put it where I don't sound like a creepy stalker?'_

"Jake?"  
I snapped out of my thoughts, "Yeah?"  
"Thank you," she didn't sound vulnerable anymore, she sounded sincere, at ease, and she gave me another smile.  
I did the same, shrugging a little, as if to say, 'it was nothing.'  
_'There's the Super girl, I know.'_

"So, who was that guy?" I asked curiously, she already knew about my secret; I wanted to know hers.  
"That doesn't matter," She took a step towards me, and I suddenly found myself a little nervous; our bodies were almost touching. "He's not the one I want."

Her un-injured arm wrapped itself around my neck, pulling me gently down towards her, our lips entwining in a tender kiss.

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**A/N: A big thank you to everyone who's viewed, reviewed and favorited my previous stories, it makes it all worth while!**


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